A Note From the Director:
Grand Junction High School currently is, and always has been a special place for performing arts students. We are a student-driven program. This means that students design, build, and decorate the set, run the lights and sound, design their own costumes, and even come up with their own movements at times. The props, leaf drops, and signs you see are student-made and designed within our very own Play Production classes. They did a wonderful job putting together and creating such a large-scale show this year.
So how did we pick Treasure Island? When we were thinking about what show to do last year, I thought of the current students on the stage today. What an adventure they have had the last few years! From killer alien plants in Little Shop their freshman year to the high school hallways in High School Musical last year. They just hadn't been on the ocean yet! These students will be some of the last students who will be performing in this old building. We still have another year, but we felt like we needed to do something about adventure, about traveling somewhere new and realizing the important part of a journey is always about the community you build along the way. The Theatre Class of 2023 loves a challenge, thrives in creativity, and loves to be original. Treasure Island began to take form at that moment. Treasure island is usually "just" a play without music, but Ken Ludwig (the writer) put many mentions of music throughout the script. Brad Hirsh and I met and decided that instead of buying canned "pirate" music to play during set changes, we would enlist the help of a GJHS Alumnus (Max Reilly) to create an original score for our current GJHS pit members. To keep it GJHS-focused, Mr. Hirsh volunteered to breathe new life into some old sea shanties to create something one-of-a-kind for our cast to sing. Mr. Hirsh, Mr. Reilly, Ms. Roos and our wonderful GJHS pit and cast members worked incredibly hard to make the musical you are about to see happen. I want to send a special thank you for their commitment that went above and beyond what is typically asked for!
I would like to thank Mark Leistico and all the donations for his race with Theatre Dad on the Run. With Mark's generous donation, we were able to buy new lumber, fabric, and repair a few microphones for our show.
I owe a few more thank-yous.
Thank you to the GJHS Student Council, who pitched in to help purchase new "theatre boxes" for our production. You will see them as the many crates on stage. They will live many lives in the future here at GJ.
A special thank you to the Blanchard family, who generously lent a hand, tools, and theatre expertise to make the show and set a reality for our students. Thank you.
Thank you to our larger D51 high school theatre community (students, teachers, and guardians) for always being the loudest clappers and first laughs of an audience. Break a leg Central! Catch Newsies at Central High School March 9-11th as well! GJHS will be there on March 9th to seize the day with you!
On a personal note, I would like to thank the GJHS students, guardians, community, alumni, and my family for your unwavering support of our little GJHS theatre family. Without it, we couldn't tell these stories.
Thank you,
Audrey Neumiller
